Welcome to the Fantastic World
by yiseunggi
Summary: Do you want to know something? I hate you. I hated everything about you. Those three simple words; you deserve it.
1. Part 1

**I've been planning this story for a while now. This was originally intended to be a one-shot but I changed my mind. I hope you enjoy reading this story. :)**

* * *

I… I've always had a mixed reaction of you.

I remember a time when my mouth was wide open, the air going in and out as I ran. The clothes I wore that day were soggy. Wet clothes devoted themselves to my skin, my whole body shivering from the cold. Underneath it I saw a glimpse of goose bumps crawling all over my body, but I didn't pay attention to it nor flick away the muddy soil attached to my skin. Instead I ran for what it feels like an eternity; but no matter how fast I ran, I hear the footsteps behind me. The sound of your steps intensifies my fear.

You hollered my name in a high soprano and I winced after hearing your scream. I didn't know where I was going, but I thought anywhere would be fine as long as I didn't have to deal with you. I still remember the harshness of the wind that cut against my cold cheeks trying to run away. My hair danced in the air with water dripping in the ends. I heard your footsteps as I ran across a number of roads, trying to block everything out of my sight.

I remember… I remember your footsteps gradually becoming louder and closer, and I mentally slap myself for not being athletic as you were.

"Yuuma!"

You said it again and again. You shouted my given name in that heavily accented voice of yours.

I hated it.

I don't regret thinking harshly. I despised the way how you said my name. I hated _everything_ that came out of that ill-mannered mouth of yours, and I still do.

I continued to run with my eyes closed hoping you would give up and leave me alone. You were always headstrong and ferocious until you got what you wanted. Unlike me, you never knew what the term "give up" meant. You never gave up.

"Yuuma!"

Do you want to know something? I hate you. I hated _everything_ about you. Those three simple words; you deserve it. Your voice frightened me so much that I used my remaining strength to make a run for it. It would've been easier if you didn't follow me.

I don't remember the specific details, but I remember hearing a melodious series of sirens followed by a loud crash. A piercing scream ends the big finale and there isn't a round of applause to give approval of the ending. Instead it's met by complete silence. I stopped to catch my breath and once I did, I turned around and saw a colorful mob of cars surrounding the road with bystanders approaching a scene.

I saw a glimpse of a little girl lying on the concrete floor, not moving an inch. Her eyes are closed and blood gushes around her pale body without her permission. Bystanders look at the freshly decayed body in shock and a few weak-minded people scream at the sight. I watch her while my clothes gets parched by the sun to see if she has the strength to move. She doesn't. It takes a while for me to come to a conclusion that the little girl is actually _you._

Now this is the part where I remember everything like it happened yesterday. I feel a small laugh that was stifled in my throat, and suddenly the tips of my lips curve upward. A loud siren cuts through the air and the crowd divides to let the ambulance come over and do their job. I watched the whole scene unfolding from a distance and I remember smiling as I watched it.

What an ungrateful brat I was.

* * *

**Welcome to the Fantastic World**

* * *

The incident happened ten years ago. You and I both matured and have grown by now. I heard you're in a coma having an endless dream while I continue my studies at school. If you ever decide to come back to me, then come. I think I might be able to forgive you now.

Do you know how my life is now? I'll tell you.

After a long lecture of the lesson, the bell rings to signal the end of class. It's lunchtime now and the girls immediately flock around the teacher to gush before the teacher can escape. While they do that, the boys check whatever mail they have on their phone or move around to meet their friends.

What do _I_ do? I do nothing.

"Hiyama-sensei," one girl asks, "when are you going to get a girlfriend?"

The teacher, Hiyama-sensei, sighs before replying his usual answer, "I don't know."

The homeroom teacher has no choice but to endure the endless chattering. While the kids move around, the door suddenly slams open and enters a certain silver-haired yandere holding what it seems to be a lunchbox. The girl giggles and rushes over to a blonde-haired boy who happens to sit in front of me.

"Len," she says shyly, sitting on the empty seat next to the boy. "I made lunch for you!"

The blonde-haired boy looks up at her in surprise before quickly looking away and manages to mutter a small approval without making eye contact. The girl is blind to notice that Len doesn't return her feelings, because she grins and happily starts to open her present.

"Tei," the boy managed to whisper. "Aren't you supposed to be in college?"

Tei stops uncapping the thermos and grins. "Mmhmm! But how can I sit through boring lectures if I keep thinking about my little Lenny starving himself?"

"But college is-"

"I made this for you," Tei cut him off by showing him a small number of neatly crafted rice balls. The silver-haired girl reaches to pick up one of her precious food and holds it in front of him. "Say ah~"

The boy, Len, has no choice but to obey and forces himself to eat the organic food. His usual breezy glibness was gone; he was uneasy. Poor boy doesn't have the courage to tell her off. It's funny how an amiable girl in college is dating the smartest and youngest boy in our class, who's actually supposed to be enrolled in middle school. Tei shoots many of her heated glares at people looking at the couple, including me. It's hard to not look at them when they happen to sit right in front of me.

I shift my eyes away and look at the clock hung on one side of the wall. Across the room is a teal-haired girl surrounded by her group of friends, but she doesn't join in on their conversation. Instead, I spot her stealing glances at the infamous couple from time to time. Many students sit in small groups and either complain or share their latest news. I don't belong in any group. I don't mingle.

With no one to talk to, I stand up and make my way out the door to go to the parking lot with my car keys in hand. I pass by Taito, a boy in my class, sitting by himself in the staircase quietly eating his food while scrolling through his phone. I snort when I pass him and he doesn't look back. Everyone knows the infamous Taito Shion. Taito is around the same age as Tei, so he should've graduated a few years ago but he never does. I finally make it to the parking lot and find my car. It's best to kill time ordering food at the nearby convenience store instead of sitting in class with nothing to do.

* * *

There's a convenience store around school that's fairly popular among people in their late teens. Everyone knows this place. It's well-known in an amusing way because of several reasons. One reason happens to be because of the infamous full-timer. She's known to be tagged as a hopeless inebriate.

When I set foot into the store, no one comes out to greet the customer. The full-timer never greets anyone and it's rare to see her well-behaved. I see the full-timer behind the counter with her head resting uncomfortably against the edge of the cash register. Her eyes are shut and she doesn't even try to wake up from her dream. No one knows exactly _why_ the owner of the store doesn't fire her because all she does is drink day and night.

I go to the back of the store to pick a few chips and something to drink. When I return to the counter, the employee doesn't wake up from her hangover so I place the coins near the counter until I hear her groaning. Her eyes batter for a second before forcing herself to sit straight. Her bloodshot eyes are bright red- the color of blood. She tries to focus her gaze on me and manages to gurgle something, but not in a clear voice.

"Food," I lift up my snacks, pointing to the cash with my other hand. "I put the money on the counter."

My answer causes her to giggle and she eventually starts to laugh uncontrollably.

"Do you know who I am?" she questions. "Do you?"

"Meiko," I answered.

"Don't call me that!" she shouts, her anger suddenly starting to rise. The brunette suddenly grabs my money and throws them at me with poor aim. "You're wrong! You're wrong, wrong, wrong!"

Her temper doesn't affect me; she's as callous as ever. I grab my chips and head for the door until she says something back.

"I remember you!" she slurs, pointing at me. "You're that… stoic… stupid…"

Her words cause me to stop on my tracks. I'm able to mollify my anger and keep my voice level in control as I say in a cold voice, "Shut up."

The brunette snaps and starts to say a series of colorful words as I step outside. _Everything's going to be alright,_ I tell myself. I'm positive the brunette will drink a few bottles before she gets knocked out.

By the time I reach my car, I notice the time and silently a curse to myself at how much time I've wasted. The small talk with that drunkard took longer than I thought. I start the car and swiftly enter the intersection. Lunch is almost over and I still need to eat my chips. There's no time to follow the speed limit so I freely rushed on the way to school.

I pass the slow drivers and ignore the warnings that were meant for me. Everything seemed to be going fine until a sudden _pop_ rings through my ear from the back side of the car and the vehicle swerves violently from side to side without my approval. It's too late to hit the brakes and I'm unable to control my reaction as the car starts to swerve uncontrollably through the lanes and into the sidewalk. Pedestrians scream at my lack of sense and move away somewhere safe. All I can hear next is a loud crash and a few loud vibrations before everything's silent.

My head hurts.

I'm unable to open my eyes. The eyelids somehow seem to be glued together and fell unusually heavy. I feel drops of liquids strolling around my face and smell something burning nearby. It's not long before my senses start to fade and I start to feel light. The colors slowly disappears one by one until everything turns black.

* * *

The first thing I notice when I open my eyes is the brightness of the sky. Lights are reflected everywhere making it impossible to avoid. It's so bright that I can even see a glimpse of it with my eyes closed. The first thing I feel when I try to move my hands is pain flickering all over my body in a steady tempo. It hurts. It hurts a _lot._ It took some time to steady myself and once I did, I found myself on the same spot as I was last time my eyes were open. My body felt stiff, but other than that, there was no real damage. I somehow managed to dodge the accident unscathed.

I was in a daze when a mental image of my car suddenly popped up so I looked around for it, hoping the damage has been kept at a minimum. But to my surprise, the car was nowhere to be seen. There weren't any scrapes or broken pieces of metal all over the ground. I was sure there should've been blood around, but there wasn't. Looking down at my clothes, I found them neat and clean. My arms weren't covered in blood or scarred in certain places. Random citizens walked passed me without a care and didn't stop for a second to witness a car accident. _What happened?_ I thought. _Did I dream everything?_

I aimlessly walked around for a while before remembering I left school to get lunch from the store. I don't know how long I've been passed out but lunch should be over by now. So I went back to the campus by foot and entered using the backdoor. The janitor sometime forgets to lock the back door and to my luck, it was open. I managed to enter the halls unseen and scurried to my class. Every step I took equaled a beat of my heartbeat. This isn't the first time I've been late to class. Hiyama-sensei's going to give me detention for sure. The door to the classroom was open and I entered the room out of breath.

"Sorry I'm late!" I gasped, bending down to rest my hands against my knees. I waited for the teacher to start nagging about coming late to class and hit my head with a ruler, but I didn't feel anything. I slowly looked up to see what he was doing, and when I saw him, I felt my eyes widen at the sight.

Kiyoteru was lecturing the class about something and acted as though I was invisible. But that's not it. There's something about Hiyama-sensei that surprised me. He still looks the same as a few hours ago, but there's something about his appearance that made him look younger and sort of… wild.

I faced my classmates wondering what happened and took a step back when the class wasn't filled with the usual faces I saw every day. They weren't the students in my grade. There's no Len or the teal-haired girl. In fact, there's a boy I've never seen in my life who's sitting on my seat. It's like every one switched to a different class and this one was replaced with a new group. They all focused on the teacher and didn't seem to be interested in the student who just came late. No one looked at me. I felt invisible. I felt unneeded.

Quivering, I extended my arm to grab Kiyoteru's hand, hoping he would recognize me, but something else happened. My hand went _through_ his hand. I pulled my hand back like I just idiotically touched something on fire. My heart was trembling at what I just witnessed. Kiyoteru didn't seem to notice I just thrust my hand inside his organs. He continued to act like I didn't exist and continued on with his lecture. I tried talking and gathering their attention with everything I could, but they all showed the same result and my heart seemed to beat rapidly after every attempt.

After multiple failed results, I put an end to this madness and turned to look at the board in defeat. Kiyoteru wasn't using the whiteboard like he usually does. Instead, the wall disappeared and he was using a chalkboard. When I glanced at the date he posted on the far right corner, my heart nearly stopped a beat. I slapped myself hoping I would wake up from a dream, but nothing happened.

I should've noticed it earlier. The car accident and the body incident showed me everything I needed to know. I should've known by now. Time cannot repeat itself, but it just did.

I am the future.

* * *

I came back to the place I woke up and desperately started looking for any leftovers from the car accident. I'm positive I fell into a deep sleep after the tire exploded. There should be some kind of clues, but I couldn't find any.

I hoped people would stop to look at me wondering why a teenager was lying on the ground in the middle of a busy street, but everyone seemed to be in a hurry; or if they weren't, they were pretending not to notice my existence.

"Excuse me," I said to a tall man. The tall businessman was walking toward my direction, but he ignored my words and kept his pace. I repeated the words louder and louder hoping it would grab his attention, but it didn't. Eventually he walked into a busy crowd and I lost sight of him.

I sat on the cold ground, looking helpless as ever. It rains, and I'm somehow drenched in rain. I look at my wet hands wondering why I'm able to hold onto the liquid but not a human's hand. I must've been sitting on the sidewalk for over an hour because my body is shivering and my hands grow numb. It's not long until a shadow casts through and I look up to see a little girl standing in front of me with an umbrella in hand. We don't speak. I felt as though we were both waiting to see who'll speak first. She continues to glance at me and I simply look back without uttering a word. It seems like a year passed before she made the first move and stepped closer to place her small orange umbrella right above my head.

"Mister," she says in a child-like voice, "why are you sitting here like a bum?"

I continue to look at her, daring her to look away. I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I close it and point to myself. "Me?" I managed to say in a cracked voice.

The little girl looks at me like I was stupid or something. "Of course," she huffed. "Who else would I be talking to?"

My jaw dropped at her response. I quickly turned to look around to see if there was anyone next to me before looking back wide-eyed when I found no one around. "You can _see_ me?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Mister, are you sick somewhere?" she asked, looking concerned. When I didn't reply, she reached her hand to touch mine. I was about to tell her not to touch me, but I _wanted_ her to touch me at the same time. I expected her to actually _touch_ my skin since she could see me, but it didn't. After noticing this, the girl let out a little gasp of surprise and it was her turn to look at me with wide doe-like eyes. She watched me closely as if I'm a human experiment and slowly reached out to try again. The results were the same. She tried again and again, and she always failed.

"My name's SeeU!" she announces happily. She said it confidently like I deserved to know her given name. "What's yours?" she asked.

"Yuuma," I answered without a second thought. My mind is in a mess right now. SeeU. I know that name. It's her. It's _her._ I'm confused about this whole thing. Why is SeeU the only one who's able to see me?

"I know someone named Yuuma!" she says, looking excited. "There's a boy in my class with the same name as you!" SeeU leaned closer to observe my facial features and said quietly, "You look exactly like him. Are you two related?"

Stunned, I quietly look away as SeeU laughed a socialite's laugh. "Mister," she says. "Are you a ghost?"

"Think whatever you want." I responded.

She seemed to think about it for a second. "Do you want to stay over at my house for the night?"

"No." I stood up and turned to walk away, hoping to get rid of her; but she soon followed behind and eventually walked by my side. SeeU's a strange little girl. She kept trying to smash her small body against mine so we would fit under her puny umbrella together.

SeeU practically had to jog to keep pace. She took three or four steps for every one of mine. She never shut her mouth the whole walk home. She is outgoing and flamboyant, continuously talking and joking. I felt tense and stiffened the whole time, but her words eventually convinced me to stay for the night. _It's just one night,_ I told myself. _It's only a night._

SeeU's house had a pair of faux-rustic wooden benches at the end of their driveway, perhaps to offset their ostentatious mansion- or perhaps to emphasize it, as if to say, "You think this house is grand? Seriously? Then you should come see our real house!" I look closely at the decoration estimating how much a single wood piece would cost while SeeU closed her umbrella.

"Nanny!" she kicked the door instead of knocking it. "I'm home!"

The door opened to reveal a tired looking girl somewhere around her late teens. She wore a maid uniform and her long silky blue hair delicately brushed her hand on the doorknob as she looked down at the violent girl with a frown. "Princess," she says, "how many times have I told you to knock?"

"Nanny, guess what?" the small girl inquired, ignoring her words. Before the maid could answer, the little girl proudly announced, "I adopted a homeless man!"

I looked down at the youngster with a sickened expression while the maid stood unfazed. SeeU seemed to be in a happy mood and introduced me.

"He's super tall!" SeeU shouted, pointing at my direction. "And he's really cranky!"

The maid stared in my direction with her clear blue eyes, and for a moment I thought she could actually _see_ me. But after a while she grinned and played along. "Another imaginary friend?" she chuckled. "What happened to the imaginary cat you brought home a few days ago?"

"No, no, no! He's real! He's really here!" the girl exclaimed.

The maid didn't bother saying anything and took the youngster inside. I managed to squeeze in before the door shut. SeeU was ordered to go upstairs and take her pajamas to the bathroom while the maid prepared the bath for her. It felt kind of awkward entering the house. The house inside was just as grand as the outside. It was big and everything seemed to be shipped from overseas. It's nothing like all the houses I've ever seen.

I stayed in SeeU's room until the youngster came back dressed in a warm pair of clothes, her hair wet and wavy. I made myself comfortable on the couch while SeeU took some stuff out of her school backpack and prepared everything she needed for tomorrow. Eventually the maid, whose named turned out to be Ring, ordered SeeU to come down for dinner and SeeU wanted me to come with her, but I declined even though I was starving. So she went downstairs to eat while I stayed in the room, reclining on the couch to think what I should do about my life. I'm stuck in a time period I shouldn't be in. What if I don't go back to where I came from? How long do I have to live like this?

"Yuuma?" says a child-like voice. I broke away from my chain of thoughts and found SeeU in the room closing the door behind her. I noticed she held something in her hand, and when she saw me looking at it, she held it out for me.

"Here," she said as I reached for it. "Nanny gave me a snack because I ate all my veggies."

"You're giving it to me?" I asked, looking at the strawberry-flavored protein bar in my hand. Once she nodded in agreement, I ripped the bag in half and quickly devoured the snack before I could stop myself. Once I finished, I found her sitting on her bed with a large stuffed tiger resting beside her.

"Hey, are you really from the future?" she asked after a moment of silence.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

She gives me a quizzical look. "It's almost like a dream," she whispers in awe.

"Believe what you want. I don't care."

SeeU sat on her bed and she looked like she was thinking of something really hard. She was quiet for a while before saying, "Does my talking bother you?"

"I like people who talk a lot," I honestly replied, "because I don't."

"So you want to keep talking?" she asked brightly, flashing her bright teeth.

"If you keep doing all the talking then..." I thought for a moment, "yeah."

And so that's what we did.

We talked and talked for what it seemed to be a long time. SeeU kept her promise and led all the conversation without me having to think of one. Her mouth never seemed to stop moving.

It was easy to obfuscate SeeU rather than enlighten her. We spoke the same language, but our words were like Mandarin to Morse code. Body language was no better. I couldn't understand some of her child-talk and her words were a bit obtuse, but luckily for me, SeeU seemed to think the same way. "Why can't you understand?" she would ask despairingly, and I would attack back with the same question.

SeeU always asked questions about the time dimension I came from. She's a little girl who enjoys listening to fictional stories and doesn't hesitate to go on an adventure. She was about to ask me something until the maid entered and ordered SeeU to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. After a while I watched the frivolous young woman tuck the little girl to bed before leaving the room. SeeU didn't fall asleep like I wanted her to do. After all that chattering a while back, I was tired but all she wanted to do was talk, talk, talk.

"Tell me," she said, sitting up in the dark. "What kind of person am I in the future?"

I lounged on the couch with my eyes closed and didn't say anything. When I didn't speak, she leaned closer with her sparkling blue eyes in curiosity.

"What am I like?" she inquired. "Do I get superpowers? How tall am I in the future?"

"A bitch," I answered harshly. The sudden change of my tone startled her, and I even scared myself. Those words left my lips without my approval. "You're different," I continued, trying to change my pitch. "You grow up to be a cold, heartless little bitch." More lies leave my lips. And for a second, I regret lying to her.

The little girl is taken aback and she's despondent of my answer. "Am I really that horrible?" she asks in a small voice.

I nodded.

"How… how horrible am I?" she asks, quivering.

I finally opened my eyes and glanced at her from the side. "You make fun of others and bring misery." I ranted. "And that's about it."

She stares at the stuffed animal beside her bed, and looks like she's going to fall apart. Tears are brimming in her eyes, and I wait for them to escape, but they don't. She holds them in place. "Did I do something to you?" she asks in a small voice.

I nodded.

"Do you hate me?"

I didn't say anything.

"How bad is it?" she asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." I replied.

"Is it really _that_ bad?"

"I still remember pieces of it."

She didn't say anything after that. I waited for her voice, but nothing came. Silence filled the room and I was about to drift asleep until her voice paused it.

"…Help me change," said SeeU.

I opened my eyes. "What did you say?" I questioned, trying to outline her figure in the dark.

"I want to change," she said again, but this time she sounded determined.

"Why should I?" I inquired.

She seemed to think about it for a while. "Because… because I'll become a good girl." SeeU smiled. She smiled a smile so bright it seemed to blind me. "Then maybe people won't hate me!"

"No."

"You'll have a bright future!" she exclaimed, not giving up. "I'll stay away from you so you won't get hurt!"

I didn't reply after that. I guess my silence caused SeeU to grow frustrated and beg for me to help her. It's not long before Ring comes around and orders her to sleep. It's getting late and I hear SeeU mutter something in a different language before doing what she's told. I don't know what she said, but by the sound of it, it didn't seem like a nice word.

Eventually the lights in the hall are turned off and I can hear every little spec in the house and even outside. I slowly get up from the couch and tiptoe over to SeeU without having a second thought. She quietly snores in her sleep and I watch her sleeping peacefully, occasionally muttering random words from time to time. It's not long until I find myself with my fingers circled around her little neck like I'm about to choke her. I press on it, but SeeU doesn't wake up. I watched my hands go through her skin unscratched. I had to _pretend_ she was in pain to satisfy myself.

What an enigma.

* * *

**It's been a long time since I last published something. I wonder which story I should update next…?**


	2. Part 2

**B1A4's third mini album is going to be released on November 12, 2012. I'm so excited! XD**

* * *

I followed SeeU to school the next morning.

We talked and talked like there's no tomorrow- something SeeU enjoyed doing. Her words are divisive, some I couldn't agree on. She's headstrong about what she says and sometime I have to remind myself that she's only a little girl.

It took a little while until I found myself standing in front of a school gate. Little children obediently rushed toward their classroom before school started. Back when I was little, I attended to same school as SeeU so coming here brought many memories. Some were okay, and some weren't as good. My school didn't have many students so everyone from different grades would squeeze in a class to be one whole multi-class.

I stayed exactly five steps behind SeeU as I followed her through the halls, watching her wave to her friends and secretly smiling to herself wondering what she'll do today. When we arrive at the classroom, there's a young lady holding the door open, smiling to every child who passed her.

"Good morning Sakine-sensei!" SeeU grinned, bowing to the teacher.

"Good morning SeeU," the teacher answered cheerfully, smiling at the small Korean. I watch her pat SeeU's hair, telling her how beautiful she looks today which caused SeeU to blush. Their conversation ends shortly after with SeeU skipping to class. When she does, I don't follow her. Instead I find myself speechlessly staged right in front of the young woman. The drunken brunette from the future is standing right in front of me and she's the complete opposite of the one I see from my time period. Somehow I'm unable to compare her with her future self.

When the bell rang, Meiko leaned away to close the door and I quickly managed to slip inside. She starts the day by ordering her students to draw a picture while she takes attendance. The children are obedient and do what their told. I watched SeeU wave me over, indicating an empty seat right next to her, but I shake my head and lean against the wall next to the door. I'm still in a shock and found myself looking at Meiko the whole time as she quietly counts the number of students in the class. When she finishes, her hair brushes against her cheeks as she walks from place to place helping the children in need.

"Sakine-sensei!" a girl shouted. "Look! Look! I drew a picture of you!"

The teacher looks at the smiling girl and gushes at the artwork her student created. She smiles and places a gold star on the little masterpiece, complimenting the girl in the process. I haven't seen Meiko smile like this in years. It's weird to see this side of Meiko after seeing a different side for so many years. She's no longer the drunken failure I knew from the future; she's an actual humane teacher.

A sudden scream vibrates across the room followed by a loud thud. The scream is so pierce that everyone turns to watch what happened, including me. SeeU was flat on the ground and she's holding what it seems to be a broken piece of an orange crayon. Beside her is a boy sitting on a chair, holding the other broken half of the crayon and a brand new brown crayon on the other hand. Everyone watched as Meiko went to help SeeU stand up. The little girl looks like she's about to cry, but she doesn't.

"What happened?" Meiko inquired, holding SeeU steady on the shoulder. I watched the little girl hold up her hands, and saw blood forming on the palm of her hand. Meiko dragged her to a cabinet with the medical supplies and everyone watched them, turning their gaze away from the boy, but I kept my eyes on him.

The boy was easily ostracized from the others. If you were to describe the boy, he's weird. He looked weird; he acted weird; he was interested in weird things. Worst of all, he didn't seem to know or care that everyone else thought he was weird. He accepted his status phlegmatically.

That boy is me.

He's my younger self. It's so weird yet fascinating at the same time to see myself from a different time period. I still have my unique pink hair and my glossy golden eyes. I slowly walked over to myself and bent down to see what he drew. It's a lurid drawing of a brown giraffe but a big orange blob covers the lower part of the body making it look deformed. It takes a while before Meiko- I mean, Sakine-sensei- to come over with SeeU to get the mess figured out.

"What happened?" Meiko asked again, looking from SeeU to the boy. "Yuuma, can you tell me what happened?"

"Yuuma colored the giraffe brown!" SeeU accused, pointing at the art. "Giraffe's are orange!"

Meiko sighed as she turned to face SeeU. "Is that why you colored it orange?" she asked. It took a while before the blonde-haired girl slowly started to nod. "SeeU, you could've informed him nicely instead of doing it by force."

"I did!" SeeU shouted loudly so everyone could hear. "I told him, but he wouldn't listen!"

I watched as everyone turned to the accused awaiting his reply, but the boy didn't speak. Little Yuuma was looking at his lap, avoiding eye contact with the people around him. It's not long until I hear a small whimper, and the pink-haired boy starts to cry.

"Are you _crying?"_ SeeU says, leaning in and frowning at the same time. "Stop it! Only babies cry!"

That's all it takes for Meiko to order her to stand out in the hall. I watched Meiko point to the door, and SeeU slowly looks at everyone before walking out. Once the girl was out of sight, Meiko immediately used her magic. She managed to stop the boy from crying by complimenting the failed artwork. I listened to her telling myself how wonderful it is and not to cry anymore. When Meiko placed a shiny red star on top of my paper, it finally stopped the tears. I watched Meiko hug the little boy before walking out to talk to SeeU. While she does that, I stay behind and look blankly at the red star on top of my paper.

Witnessing this scene made me wonder: Was I really a crybaby at that age?

* * *

The madness didn't stop there. SeeU's bullying never stopped, and I happen to be the one who started one of the infinite bullying.

During recess, I watched the kids go outside and play on the swings or run around playing soccer. SeeU and her group of friends were playing on the monkey bars while Little Yuuma separated himself from the group and played in the sand. He looked so pitiful playing by himself but he didn't seem to care. I wanted to join him and encourage the boy to expand his social skills, but I can't. All I can I do is stand helplessly next to him and watch.

I hear a loud scream and look over to a group of kids playing on the monkey bars. I saw SeeU smiling as she made her way across the swings as a teal-haired girl cheered her on while watching a girl, Tei, who kept pestering a boy, Len, who seemed to be suffering from her friendliness. Only the teal-haired girl seemed to be aware he was being tortured by the clingy girl.

"SeeU!" I shouted loud enough for everyone on the playground to hear. And I was right. SeeU released her hands and turned to look at me. I waved her over and she seemed unsure for a second, turning to look at her group of friends before deciding to come.

"What?" she questioned to no one in particular. "Yuuma?"

She meant me, but Little Yuuma thought she was calling him and raised his head to look at her. Deep inside, it killed me how expressionless I looked.

"Play with him," I urged, glancing at my younger self. "Do something."

"Can't he play with me at the monkey bar?" SeeU pouted, looking at me. "All my friends are over there." She pointed to the area she came from as Little Yuuma watched the whole scene unfolding right in front of his eyes. He watched his classmate talking to no one in particular. I bet he thought she's hallucinating or something.

I sighed. "Never mi-"

"Whatever." SeeU turned around with a smile and looked at the boy sitting on the sand. She joined him and announced that she would be joining him.

Little Yuuma seemed to be startled at her words and for a second, I scared myself. Back when I was little, I was always alone. My classmates would avoid me like a plague and I ended up being alone every time. I startled myself. I never once cared about being alone, but now that I'm watching my younger self, I felt pity. I regretted not making a friend or two.

I watched SeeU order Little Yuuma to keep making a specific number of sandcastles with the bucket while she looked around for pebbles to decorate the sand. It was only then when I realized she was wearing a miniskirt. That meant every time she bent down to pick up a rock, her skirt would push itself upward revealing her undergarment. It's not long until Little Yuuma notices and looks at her unfazed while I mentally urge him to look away.

I walked over to where SeeU was crouched and bent down to whisper in her ear. "SeeU," I whispered. When she looked at me, I pointed to her skirt. The little girl didn't seem to understand what I was trying to say until I mouthed it, and that's all it took for her to jolt upward with a blush. She opened her mouth to say something as she turned around, but stopped when she saw Little Yuuma staring back at her. She knew we were able to get a glimpse of her frilly pink underwear. The fact that Little Yuuma was still staring at her made her bend down to pick up a handful of sand. And before I could say anything, she threw it and watched it splatter all over Yuuma's face while I stood speechless.

Every living being stopped whatever they were doing and turned to face the boy screaming as he rubbed his face with his bare hands. Meiko immediately rushed over and I found myself boiling in anger. SeeU, who was startled, reached over to try comforting the crying boy; but the moment she saw my glare, she retracted her hand as if she'd been burned. So all she did was stand next to him and look apologetically.

It took many coos to stop the crying. By the time Meiko successfully stopped the madness, the bell rang and the class went inside to start their next activity. The children were talking amongst themselves as I sat next to Little Yuuma and Meiko was sitting on her desk reading a note. When she finished, she clapped her hands and announced,

"This week, we're going to do things a bit differently than usual."

The entire class watched closely as Meiko hopped off her desk and walked around it, pulling out a drawer.

"So today," she said, shutting the desk drawer, "you're going to be writing a letter!"

The brunette started walking down the aisle between the tables, and I saw now she had a small plastic bowl in her hand, which she offered to Miku, the teal-haired girl from the playground, who was sitting in front of the class. The girl reached in, pulling out a slip of paper. Meiko moved on to the next person, a blonde-haired girl, holding out the bowl to her. More people had their slips now, and the kids started squealing or acting depressed whoever they had chosen.

"Quiet!" Meiko held a finger in the middle of her lips and smiled. "You're not supposed to tell each other who you picked! It's supposed to be a secret."

So the kids who chose to blabber their answer had to redraw a name, and they were to keep it hidden. I watched Little Yuuma pull out a slip and leaned forward to look at who he had chosen, but he immediately closed it and left it untouched on his desk.

I saw Len sitting in middle of the classroom with Tei sitting next to him, pestering him with her constant chattering. The silver-haired girl doesn't even sit next to him but I realized she always sneaks away to sit next to Len. Her assigned seat is next to the teal-haired girl in the front, which I happen to notice that he occasionally peaks at the girl from time to time. I don't know why but I kept smirking whenever he glanced at her. I thought it was cute. On the right side of the row is where SeeU sat. She looks at me for a few seconds before turning around and whispering something to a girl sitting next to her. The other girl turns around and squints toward my direction, searching for something before shrugging and turning back to whisper her answer to the blonde. I can see SeeU trying to explain something, but things seemed to backfire because a moment later, I see SeeU looking at me with a frown before looking away.

I'm still mad at SeeU by the time the bell rings to signal the end of school. Sakine-sensei stands by the door and hugs everyone one by one as I walk out first until a voice calls my name. I turn around and see SeeU standing a few feet behind me.

"Where are you going?" she asked, slightly tilting her head to one side.

"Home," I replied nonchalantly.

The little girl opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw Little Yuuma walk pass her and go on without looking back. Before she could gather her words, I began to follow him.

* * *

Little Yuuma leads me home and I manage to sneak in right before he closes the door. I've been living in this house for as long as I could remember, and I still do. There's no one to greet the boy when he enters his shelter. I watch the boy lock the door before heading over to the dining room where a bowl of soup was resting on a table.

I've been alone for as long as I could remember. My parents were always overseas and barely had time to take care of me, so my grandmother had to move in from the countryside to take care of me. Grandmother spends her time outside doing God-knows-what. All she ever does is cook my lunch and I would wait until she came home in the night to eat dinner together. I spent my early years alone in the house, leaving the house only to go to school. It made me feel guilty spending basically my whole life like this. I needed to do something to change myself. And fast.

I watched myself take a spoonful of soup and pour it into his mouth. Watching him eat something made me realize I was hungry. I didn't get a chance to eat anything since this morning. SeeU managed to grab a little snack for me right before we left her house. I needed to quell my hunger. I was debating whether or not I should do something to make Little Yuuma try to notice me, but I decided not to because I didn't want to scare him. The poor boy lives alone and I didn't have the guts to scare him. That meant I have two choices. Do I survive in a place I'm familiar with or go to a house where someone can actually see me? What an enigma. The thought of going to my enemy is repugnant, but it's the only choice I have.

I took the first chance I got and slipped out through an open window. Luckily I managed to trace myself back to SeeU's house by nighttime and to my surprise; her bedroom window was wide open.

SeeU wasn't in her room by the time I managed to climb inside from a tree. I lounged on the couch thinking she was in the bathroom for what it felt like an eternity. I expected her to come back within a few seconds, but when she didn't, I decided to go out and see for myself. I was halfway down the stairs until I heard SeeU's voice whining about something.

"It's nothing!" I heard SeeU shout.

"Your teacher called me." I heard Ring say. "SeeU, this is really serious."

"Why?" the little girl complained. "I didn't do anything!"

"Then can you explain to me _why_ you hit a boy?"

"Because he was doing it wrong," SeeU responded with a snort.

"Did what wrong?" Ring inquired.

"Giraffes' aren't brown," answered the little girl. "They're orange."

"Okay, then can you explain to me why you threw sand in his face?" the maid asked calmly. "Your teacher told me it was pretty serious."

"I don't know," she replied. And then, more softly, "I'm innocent."

I accidently let out a small laugh at her last comment, but luckily no one heard me.

"SeeU," the maid said slowly, "you've been having problems with that boy for a long time. You're always teasing and hurting him. And now it's the time to stop."

"I try!" I heard SeeU stand up for herself. She sounds like a strong girl, but I noticed the slight stammering she started doing. "But he always ruins everything!"

Silence fills the room and I can hear the sound of my heart beating. I turn to go back up thinking I shouldn't get involved until I hear Ring take a deep breath and say,

"You're teasing him," she said slowly, _"because_ you like him."

Her answer makes me stop on my steps and turn around in shock. She likes me? Are you kidding me? SeeU likes_ me?_ I hold in my breath waiting for SeeU's reply. I want her to laugh and say it's not true, but she doesn't say anything. SeeU doesn't try to deny her feelings, because instead of answering a simple "No," she mutters with a small "It's complicated."

I hear footsteps downstairs and I quickly go back to SeeU's room without missing a beat. After a while SeeU enters her room while I pretend to lounge on her couch. She looks at me in surprise for a second before acting like nothing happened and goes over to sit on a chair. She works on what it looks to be her letter and after a long period of silence, she turns to look at me with eyebrows raised.

"I thought you weren't coming back," she said.

"I'm only staying because it's for your own good." I snapped, narrowing my eyes at her. "Not because I want to."

"But you came back."

"I'm still mad about today," I deadpanned.

"I know." SeeU replied. She said it so softly that I had to lean over to hear her. The room is met with silence. It's so silent that I thought I was going crazy. "Did you hear?" she finally asked after I thought a year passed.

"No." I lied.

"Liar," she says, getting up and plopping onto her bed. "I saw you."

"You did?"

She nodded. "I saw your shoulder."

"…Is it true?" I finally asked.

"No," she replied, but I knew better. The blush on her cheeks told me everything.

"You… like me?" I asked, my mouth starting to dry. "Is that why you wanted me to help you?"

"I don't know!" she shouted back, biting her lower lip.

"SeeU-"

"I do," she replied flatly, narrowing her eyes at me. "I like the other you. Happy?"

I stayed quiet. My mind's jumbled up into a big ball of mess. It's better to not say anything. Unfortunately, SeeU became querulous when I didn't reply.

"What is it?" SeeU whined, sitting up on her bed. Her eyes didn't leave mine for a second. "Tell me. Tell me!"

"Do you really like me?" I asked rather quietly.

SeeU seemed to think about it for a second before answering, "If I do, are you going to help me?"

She had a conscientious and purposeful look on her face making it hard for me to answer. "…Alright." I answered after a moment of silence. "I'll help you, but you need to promise me you'll stop bullying me."

That's all she needed to hear to make her smile. She thanked me and asked if I was hungry, and I said yes. By the time she went downstairs to get some food for me, all I could do was sit on the couch and feel my entire body slowly grow numb. My mind was a train-wreck right now. All I could think of was the confession. She likes me. SeeU likes me. SeeU likes… Yuuma. She… likes me? SeeU likes me?

Somehow I couldn't find a decent answer to that.

* * *

It takes a few days for me to realize something. SeeU slowly started to start a friendly relationship with my younger self, and I happen to be the person who corroborated their bond. They started the relationship with the help of her whimsical sense of humor. SeeU would always be tapping around his shell, probing for a soft spot. When she was going for something, she always stopped to see if he needed anything. If he sneezed, SeeU brought him a tissue to blow his nose. She acted like a mother taking care of her child. I concluded if SeeU kept doing what I tell her to do, this chemistry will soon build a strong amity.

Little Yuuma always took his time getting used to her presence. And SeeU was fine with it. At first she was impatient, always barking out orders for him, but she eventually learned how to deal with it. They would talk somewhere alone during recess, and if he felt like it, SeeU would introduce him to her friends. She was always by his side, helping him mingle. At first he would reply in a timorous voice, but later began to talk with confidence. He was able to establish a good rapport with the children thanks to SeeU.

The whole time SeeU stayed by my side as a staunch supporter. Due to her lack of love and my visibility, we helped each other whenever we would. My younger self turned more social and SeeU began to act mature for her age. The first day I came here, I would helplessly watch myself act like a loner who needed sympathy. But now it all changed. It made me smile watching myself getting along with the others and start relying on the other children for help. The bond Yuuma and SeeU created was slowly starting to glue.

As their bond grew, school was slowly starting to change. Sometime Meiko would ask her students to bring something from home to share with the class and SeeU would always bring something. One time she brought an elaborate French doll. It came with a fancy silk dress and a coat trimmed in real fur. It was a mere pretentious doll. Even so, her idol was met with a rapturous applause.

When they weren't sharing, Meiko and the children would sing melodiously. They sang children songs and sometime made their own silly song. When they did neither of those things, Meiko would read stories or work on projects as a whole.

When it rained, the class stayed indoors. One day it rained and recess was held indoors in the classroom. I watched Meiko grab various boxes out of the supply closet and lay them out on the ground for the children to come and gather around to play with the toys. Some played the games Meiko handed out while others played on the computer.

When it came to making decisions, SeeU always asked me before picking out an answer. "How about this," she asked, holding a box of chess. She turned around to take a peek at Little Yuuma waiting for her before looking at me slowly. "Do you think he'll want to play this?"

I snorted. "You want to play chess?"

"Then what else do we play?"

"Anything you want. Look," I said, pointing to a box of colorful blocks, "take those and make something out of them. Understand?"

And so that's what they did.

They sat next to Meiko's desk and reserved a lot of space for their creation. They teamed up and grabbed the blocks of bricks one by one, standing on top of another to create a whole universe of their own. Eventually the blocks that were used to design houses were taller than the children so they had to use a chair to stack the next brick.

I was so focused on Yuuma that I didn't notice a duet, Lily and Luna, who were playing a game of tag. The black-haired girl chased the blonde who wasn't looking ahead and came crashing into my younger self, forcing him to slip and fall behind, knocking down a glass trophy by Meiko's desk on accident. Silence fills the room when the sound of the glass breaking captured everyone's undivided attention.

"What happened?" Meiko inquired, coming to see where the sound came from. She looked worried as if hoping no one had gotten hurt, but when she spotted the sparkling glass on the floor, she gasped. "Who did this?" she whispered, quickly bending down to gather the broken glass. She said it in such a sad voice that I felt pity for her.

The class is filled with silence and no one dared to open their mouths to speak. It's not long before Luna points to Yuuma and shout, "Yuuma did!"

Stunned, I look over at the girl but she continues to look at the teacher with a serious expression. Meiko seemed to believe her and turned to look at Yuuma. "Did you do this?" she asked sadly.

I watched my younger self shake his head furiously in deny and I sighed in relief when he did.

"He's lying!" Lily shouted, copying Luna's movement. "He pushed it!"

"Yuuma did it!" Luna shouted again, furiously pointing at the pink-haired boy.

I can feel every pair of eyes looking at the boy as he looked down at his shoes in defeat. I wanted to clap my hands and tell everyone the truth, but I can't. I'm a hopeless ghost no one can see.

"I did it!" declared a voice.

The whole class, even I, turned to the owner of the voice and saw SeeU standing proudly like she just did something right. SeeU stiffened with a burning blush, but a proud smile and eyes that refused to be embarrassed remained. Meiko took her out to the halls to scold her; and while she did that, I stood behind with my mouth wide open. Did SeeU just take the blame for something she didn't do? Did she lie to save me? To be honest, I felt bad for her.

The atmosphere was apprehensive after that. The trophy seemed to be special to Meiko because she quietly wept as she watched the janitor clean the mess from a few feet away. But Meiko refused to act weak in front of her students. Right before school ended, she lectured the entire class about how bad it is to drink alcohol. Everyone knows you're not supposed to drink and drive. The children nod along, wide-eyed, because you can't imagine ever being stupid and awful enough to drink at all, much less drink and drive. I couldn't help but snort at the teacher's remark and SeeU shoots a heated glare toward my direction.

The day goes by faster than usual and I watch myself leaving the classroom as soon as the bell rang. SeeU went to get something from a different classroom so I lounge behind for a while waiting for her. I sat on her seat watching her backpack resting on top of her desk while watching everyone else exit the class. One by one the children start to leave with Meiko behind them, and it's not long before I realize Len is the last person in the room, shuffling around the desks surrounding his own.

I lean forward and see the boy biting his bottom lip while fumbling around with what it seemed to be a small letter in his hand. He glances at the door every once in a while to see if it would open. It doesn't. I continued to watch him in curiosity and felt my shoulders relax when the boy finally scuttled over to a desk nearby. He tapped the front cover of the desk with his pale finger, tracing the nametag of the owner of the desk. Amused, I got up and went to look. It took everything I had to stop myself from chuckling. The desk Len picked turned out to be Miku's desk. He nervously held the letter in both hands as I watched his every action amusingly until a sound of a person singing from somewhere outside surprised him deeply, causing him to shove the letter in the desk next to it without looking closely.

Len was by his desk grabbing his backpack by the time the door opened. Meiko stood standing next to the door with SeeU by her side, smiling as the little girl finished singing her song. SeeU caught sight of me and flashed a bright smile as she came to retrieve her bag. While she did that, the shy boy scurried out the door without looking back.

"It's raining outside," Meiko announced to the blonde-haired girl. "Do you have an umbrella?" SeeU nodded and held out her small orange umbrella as if she was trying to prove it. Her act caused Meiko to grin as she patted the little girl on the back. "Be careful on your way home."

And so SeeU and I headed home after she waved the teacher goodbye. Meiko was right. It was raining, and neither of us wore appropriate clothes for this weather. We walked in silence, but SeeU would break the ice by making small talk from time to time. I couldn't pay attention to any of what she was saying because all I could think about is Len and the letter. It was a bit unusual to see him acting like that earlier. The way how he stood next to Miku's desk and putting the letter into a different desk made no sense to me. Why would he do that? What did that letter say?

"Yuuma," a voice says. "You're getting wet."

I break away from my thoughts and turn to see SeeU trying to cover me with her puny umbrella. She frowns at the horrible job she's doing of at covering me and I notice drops of raindrops on the side of my clothes. I'm not that wet compared to SeeU. Her hair sparkled as if she just finished taking a shower and her clothes were almost fully drenched. I trivially tilted the umbrella toward her direction.

"No one can see me, remember?" I deadpanned. "You look like an idiot covering an invisible person instead of protecting yourself."

SeeU was ecstatic at my response. She silently walked along without a word before grinning and said, "Let's share!"

When I didn't say anything, she tilted her umbrella with alacrity, attempting to cover both of us as much as the umbrella would allow. By the time we made it back to her house, we were both pretty much drenched. But what made it memorial was that we were both smiling.

* * *

**I decided to upload this before going to an orchestra concert tonight. Wish me luck! ^^ I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. :)**


	3. Part 3

**This story would never have been published if I didn't listen to:**

**Lee Hyun - _Although You Said So (Feat. Mighty Mouth)_**

**Lee Hyun – _Unsophisticated_**

**2AM - _I Wonder If You Hurt Like Me_**

**Thank you Lee Hyun and 2AM. Thank you.**

**Oh, and did you know that Trinity from GLAM appeared on 2AM's MV? I'm totally shipping JinwoonxTrinity together. :)**

* * *

I couldn't stop thinking about the letter.

The more I thought about it, there were more questions left unanswered. What if the letter isn't a simple letter? Does it somehow have an effect on the future? I kept feeling a strange feeling just thinking about it. I feel like it's somehow a hidden connection between Len, Tei, and Miku.

Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong, but I can't grasp it into words.

It's useless to keep thinking without actually doing anything about it, so I came up with a plan to sneak into school during the middle of the night right after SeeU fell asleep. The plan was simple. I'll just sneak into the school and read the mysterious letter. After that, I'll decide what I'll do from there on out. I calculated that this mission would only take about half an hour. It'll go by fast since no one can see me.

I act like myself at home, pretending I have nothing better to do than watch SeeU do whatever she's doing. When Ring calls SeeU to the bathroom for her bath, I waste no time to reach for a bobby pin on top of her drawer and slip it down my pocket. Night arrived quickly and I lounged on my usual couch as Ring tucked SeeU to sleep. I listen to Ring telling the child a bedtime story about a nurse working at a hospital as SeeU patiently watches her. I don't know if she knows this or not but I realized Ring often likes to tell SeeU stories about hospitals or nurses. Eventually the maid finishes her story and leaves the room, leaving us alone.

"Good night." SeeU muttered in her bed, warming her body underneath the warm blankets.

"Sleep well." I replied, slowly closing my eyes. A few seconds later I opened them once again to carefully observe her.

I've known SeeU for a while now so I know when she falls into a deep sleep. I listen to her breathing pattern slowly changing its tempo. A few minutes later, I believe she's asleep and slowly start to get up from the couch. Step by step I try not to make a sound on the way to the nearest window, but once I opened the window to its max, a voice suddenly stopped me.

"Yuuma?" SeeU moans, scrubbing her sleepy eyes with one hand. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I lied.

"It's cold. Close the window."

I don't. I can't. I can't stop now.

"Yuuma?"

I stuck my right leg out the window and turned to face her. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" she questions, sitting up from her bed with her eyes focused on me.

"To the park," I answered nonchalantly. "I need some fresh air."

The little girl rolls her eyes and snorts. SeeU knows I'm lying. After all, she's a sophisticated young socialite.

"Go back to sleep," I said, lifting my other leg out the window. "I'll be right back."

"Wait!" SeeU pulled herself out of her bed and came toward me. "Wait for me. I want to go with you!"

"You can't." I muttered, ushering her away. "Stay here."

The petite girl frowned and stamped her foot in dismay. "No, I'm coming with you."

I sighed. "I promise I'll come back. It won't take long."

"But I-"

I didn't get the chance to hear what she said after that. I jumped out the window and ran on the roof until I found a tree that was close enough to grab onto and climb down. I knew SeeU was watching me from the window as I made my way down and began to run. I know for sure that she would try to follow me so I tried to run away as fast as I could until I was far away from her neighborhood. Every once in a while I would look back and make sure she wasn't following me. She wasn't.

At night, no one's supposed to be around the school except for the security guard. It's easy to go past him unseen and I was able to reach the classroom pretty easily. It took a while for me to unlock the door using the pin, and once I succeeded, I entered the room with the door closed behind me. I go over to the row of empty desks and reach into Tei's desk until I felt the stiffness of the object I was looking for. With no one around, I embezzled the letter and opened it. It read,

_This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, but I think it's about time I tell you how I feel. I know everyone think of each other as brothers and sisters because our grades are put together; but the truth is… I love you._

_I've always felt left out since I'm always the youngest in the class. I always acted like a shy person so it was hard for me to get along with the others. But that all changed when you came up to me one day and talked to me. The fact that you actually cared about me made me happy._

_If you don't feel the same way, I understand. It makes me feel so much better inside knowing that I finally told you how I feel. Will you be my girlfriend? – Len_

How sweet. For a boy his age, he sure knows how to write. A boy confessed to the girl of his dreams but accidently sent it to the wrong person. Is this how Len got stuck getting paired up with Tei? Was he too shy to correct her misunderstanding? I inwardly started laughing to myself thinking about the dimension I came from. Who knew such a simple letter could impact future this heavily? Everything started making sense. Len must've chosen Miku has his secret pen pal. The confession was for Miku, not Tei. There's a huge difference in the way how he acts around Tei and Miku. It's so obvious to tell who he likes more.

"Touché," I clicked my tongue, gently putting the paper back into the envelope.

This mistake wouldn't have happened if he wrote the name of the girl on the letter. If he did, it would've severed his relation with Tei. I closed the letter and put it back into the right place so Miku would come find it when she comes back to school. I took a step backward to go home but stopped when I suddenly thought of something. Knowing Tei, she won't give up her crush that easily. Who knows what kind of misfortune she'll start in the future? Whatever it is, I knew blood was going to be involved.

I sat on Tei's chair to think of an idea until I spotted a nametag on a desk a few rows behind. I reached for a pen and paper nearby and started writing the same letter word by word as much as I could remember. Tei's been eying Len since the first day she laid her eyes on him. She was blinded by love to notice other people around her. I know a same exact person who feels the same way as Tei. They would be perfect for each other. Eventually I finished the letter and shoved it into Tei's desk with the name clearly printed on the front so she won't get confused.

Taito always has a placid nature. He should start showing his feelings more often instead of hiding where no one can reach him. Perhaps he should start learning a thing or two from Tei and actually graduate high school for once.

* * *

I went outside after finishing my business in the classroom. It felt good to breathe in fresh air and get away from the school. I went back taking a longer route because I needed time to control myself after doing something I never would've thought of. It's not long before I notice the ominous dark clouds gathering overhead and I start to increase my pace.

I was walking past several alleys until I noticed someone standing in front of a building. She stood in front of the door looking unsure whether she should enter the building or not. She was almost unrecognizable if I didn't catch a glimpse of her face. She was wearing a low-cut ruby cocktail dress of stiff, shimmering material-like scales- a loud outfit, full of personality, which caused my shoulders to stiffen.

"Meiko!" a voice shouted from nearby. I watched the brunette turn to look at a pinkette coming up to her wearing a conspicuous dress. "Wow, you actually came," the pinkette chuckled, smiling with joy.

Meiko looked worried, but her friend looked very serene. "Luka," Meiko started, "I'm not sure if I should be here…"

I was so absorbed in spying on the two that I barely heard the voice behind me until it repeated my name more than once; in a loud and serious tone a whole crowd could hear.

"Yuuma?" said the voice.

I turned around in annoyance until I saw SeeU looking at me in curiosity. "SeeU?" I said, dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

"You left. I was waiting and- oh, is that Sakine-sensei?" SeeU asked excitedly, watching the two female link arms and head inside the building.

The little girl dashed to catch up to her teacher without a second thought as I watched in disbelief. I wanted to freely grab her wrist and pull her back, but it was impossible. I could only watch my hand go through her arm and helplessly call SeeU's name to come back, but she wouldn't listen to me and continued to run. She was too excited to listen to my words.

I started running after SeeU but she disappeared by the time I made it inside. The entrance was crowded with drunken failures that slurred and shouted words no child should hear. The aura was hot, loud, and heavy with languor. Out of all other places to choose from, it just had to be a bar. SeeU is small in stature, so I knew it was going to take longer to find her.

I push through the heavy crowd looking for the little girl until the announcer on the stage says something in a loud voice that almost deafens my eardrums. The next thing I know, people stopped doing whatever they were doing and looked ahead to watch a group appearing on stage. Drunken woman scream their names while old men start whistling in approval. Everyone starts chanting the name of the band I've never heard of while I continue to search, but when a member of the band grabs the microphone and starts introducing his group, I stop what I'm doing altogether and look at him in shock. I've seen the singer somewhere before. His visage looks oddly familiar. It's only when he starts to sing that I finally recognize who he is.

He's Hiyama-sensei, my homeroom teacher in the future.

I'm still in a shock as I watch him sing while his band plays a piece. It kind of makes sense why Hiyama-sensei never told the class about his past whenever the girls begged him to share. He always kept secrets; he never told his students about being part of a band when he was younger. Hiyama-sensei looks younger (obviously) and… wild. His hair is messy and his expression looks fierce, like a person who lost their sense. He sings the lyrics and all I can do is helplessly look at him in awe. There were times when he would flash a beguiling smile that caused females to scream and shout his name even louder. It was… dazzling.

I was in the trance until I spotted Meiko walking past me, forcing me to come back to reality. She looks unsure of what to do and I didn't see her friend from earlier anywhere around. I followed her as she approached an empty room somewhere in the hallway to get away from the noise. Meiko closes the door gently behind her and I watch her sigh in defeat. I wanted to pull her away and lead her back outside, but I can't. The grown woman sits a little longer and mutters several words I can't make out. It's not long until the door suddenly opens and I turn to look to see if it's SeeU or the pinkette, but it's not. A strange man somewhere in his late-twenties takes a step in to view the room as Meiko looks up startled. The man takes a peak at Meiko and instead of going back, I watch smirk and slowly start coming closer.

"I've never seen you around before." He spoke in a low voice. "What's your name?"

I watch helplessly as the man slowly comes toward Meiko with a sadistic grin plastered on his face. He asked her several questions and she answered them reticently. He stepped forward and Meiko would automatically step back feeling belittled. Meiko takes several steps before she runs out of space and her back touches the wall. And before she could do anything, he pinned her to the wall so she couldn't run away.

"Don't be afraid," he says in a slurry voice. "I won't hurt you."

The teacher was reluctant and tried to pull away, but he pulled her back. She wanted to repel, but he was too strong for her.

"Meiko!" I shouted, but it's useless. No one's able to hear me.

I watch in horror as Meiko screams when the man leans toward her. He's about to kiss her until a childish "Sakine-sensei!" halts his action. We all turn to look and see SeeU standing next to the doorway with a tired smile.

"SeeU?" Meiko asked in disbelief.

SeeU ignored my signals to run away and danced her way toward Meiko. We all forget about the drunken man until he slaps SeeU away pretty easily and watch as she lands on the ground with a hard thud. That's all it takes for Meiko to push the man away and run over to the child's side to see if she's okay. The drunken man turned out to be wasted because he loses his support and falls against the table, landing painfully on his back against the glass.

"Son of a-"

"It's not nice to say bad words!" SeeU frowned at the man.

I watched in horror as the man slowly tried to get up, wobbling as he tried to support himself.

"SeeU," I shouted, "bite him!" I watched the intrepid girl bite the man's hand without a second thought. He was perturbed by her capricious behavior. Once she let go of his hand, Meiko grabbed her back into her arms and wrapped them tightly around SeeU like a mother protecting her child.

The man wobbles backward and howls in pain as he looks at the bite marks in his hand. He mutters stuff that is unrecognizable and his voice slowly becomes increasingly sharp, almost strident.

"SeeU," I whispered, watching the man. "Go find someone to help us."

I watched SeeU pull out of her teachers grasp and run outside just as the opponent stood up again, clearly unhappy of the situation.

"I just wanted to have fun with you," he spat. "If I have to use force, then I will."

I couldn't let him. I can't let this man hurt Meiko. It would only hurt my pride. It takes a few seconds for me to find a heavy karaoke booklet resting right next to me and I hurdle it directly at the man, hoping it would knock him out until SeeU came back with help. Meiko doesn't seem to realize a booklet "flew" by itself to protect her because she's sitting on the ground looking tired and scared. She would occasionally slap herself as if she wanted to get away from a nightmare. She doesn't seem to have the energy to run away like I wanted her to. I continue to throw anything my hands can touch until the man finally falls to the floor looking beaten and tired. Meiko and I watched him to see what he'll do next, but luckily he didn't recharge until SeeU came back holding hands with a tall man who stood behind her.

"I brought him!" the girl shouted proudly, moving sideways to show everyone in the room our savior.

I recognize him immediately this time. Hiyama-sensei looks around the room with his wild eyes until he spots Meiko and the man on the ground.

"I-it w-wasn't m-m-me," the brunette cried, holding her hands in the air. "I… I didn't do anything!"

We all watched the male teacher wondering what he'll do next. The deep silence is all it takes for Meiko to release the tears she kept inside her system all this time. Without a second thought, Hiyama-sensei kneeled down and patted her back, softly whispering in her ear that everything would be alright. It was a nice view. All my negative memories of Meiko seemed to vanish just by watching them together. Hiyama-sensei looked like a prince who just arrived to rescue the princess from her misery.

"SeeU," I whispered, "let's go."

It takes the little girl a while to shift her gaze to me and nod. Even a little girl like her seemed to understand that Meiko wanted to be left alone. We slip out into the hallway and start looking for the exit. While doing so, I began to wonder about many things. If I wasn't there, what would Meiko have done? Would she have possibly killed the man? Is this how Meiko got fired from her job? Did she relinquish her role to become forgotten? There're so many things I wanted to ask, but getting SeeU out of here is my top priority. A little girl like her shouldn't be here. Bringing a child into a bar is a flagrant violation of the law.

We eventually found the door leading to outside and ran all the way back to her house. Ring was standing in front of the doorway in her pajamas looking like she's about to do something tragic. She was pacing back and forth until she saw SeeU running toward her and she immediately began to scold the child. The rest of the night went by pretty fast.

* * *

SeeU spent the rest of the weekend perfecting the letter. She worked on it while I told her about Len's letter. SeeU continued to work in it herself and wouldn't show it to me when I asked her what she wrote. She didn't look like she was ever going to reveal her homework, so I decided to leave it alone. Eventually school started again and SeeU was still resilient from the drama. She acted like nothing happened and was extremely reticent about the trauma she faced. I thought that was brave of her to do.

We walked to school in the morning side by side and I listened to her endless chattering until we reached the school. If you think about it, SeeU and I helped each other a lot. We started depending on each other, and I slowly changed my feelings toward her. I guided her on how to develop a close bond with my younger self and helped her with her studies. SeeU was a mediocre reader and lacked sense when it came to socializing. In return, she sheltered me and gave me food. She's my only friend in this time period, and I'm actually thankful. She was as loquacious as ever and never failed to bore me. Of course, there were also times when I was too tired and ambivalent to answer her endless list of questions about the future.

That day SeeU was wearing a billowy pirate's blouse and gold earrings, an outfit I thought was quixotic and silly. But up close she was lovely, with white skin as white and flawless as windblown snow banks. The white silk was embellished with golden embroidery, making the outfit look propitious to the outsiders. It made me spellbound just by looking at it.

The letter SeeU made turned out to be for Len. She gave it to him and he accepted it with a shy smile. I watched from far away as she said something to Len and he nodded at whatever she said.

Meiko wasn't at school that day. Instead we had a substitute. That fact that Meiko wasn't here made me worry. What if the school district found out about the bar incident and fired her? I felt uneasy just thinking about it.

The teacher seemed slightly uneasy in the beginning, but she slowly began to loosen up. She didn't say much, but she smiled warmly at the children. After a long cold month, the sun finally decided to show up for a change. It was a somnolent summer day and the substitute led the kids outside to plant flowers. SeeU felt elated gardening with Yuuma, and I was forced to watch her in case something didn't go right.

I sat at a nearby bench watching them happily pour in the tiny seeds. SeeU dug holes with a pink shovel and her partner poured the seeds in the little space she created. They would continue for hours going from one place to another filling the garden with roses, daisies, tulips, and even mums. I watched SeeU carefully think and say words that wouldn't hurt her friend because I mentioned earlier that this is the most important part of the growing bond. I was the type who kept my feelings hidden. I was a fragile child who never acted the same when something didn't go right. I knew if something bad happened to them now, my younger self wouldn't let SeeU come close to him.

Sometime later, SeeU stood up and announced she was going to go wipe the dirt off her clothes. I watched her disappear somewhere and focused my gaze on Yuuma. Little Yuuma was quiet the whole time and I watched him plant the seeds. It's not long until I noticed he was running out of seeds and sighed as I stood up to go tell SeeU to bring some more.

I jogged to the passage SeeU ran off and found her coming out of the bathroom wiping her hands against her blouse. Her clothes were still stained, but she managed to get as much dirt off as she possibly could. I called her name and she looked up startled.

"What is it?" she asked, walking toward me.

"We're running out of seeds." I said. "Go grab some."

"You should come with me," she grinned; her eyes looking at me pleadingly, so I did. We were on our way to the teacher until I noticed Lily and Luna, the troublemakers from the trophy incident, carrying a large bucket filled with something to the very top. They were coming toward our direction and from what I could tell, the bucket didn't seem like it was going to be used for gardening, so I became unwary. SeeU seemed to notice it too because she shouted their names and waved innocently.

"What are you doing?" SeeU asked once they came closer.

The surly girl, who I recognized as Lily, frowned and answered strictly, "What does it _look_ like we're doing?"

SeeU paid no attention to the harshness and pointed to the bucket. "What's in there?" she inquired.

"Water," said the other girl, Luna. She pointed to the bucket with a proud smile. "It's mixed with dirt!"

"What are you going to do with that?" said SeeU, looking at the dark water in awe while I stared at it disapprovingly.

"We're going to dump it at the sub!" Luna finished just before Lily slapped her mouth shut. But it was too late. We heard everything. _I_ heard everything.

Lily was about to say a flippant remark but stopped when SeeU suddenly approached and tried to pull the bucket out of her grasp. It was a mini game of tug-of-war as the girls pulled with all their might. The war was inevitable. The vociferous girls warned SeeU to stop, but the Korean wouldn't listen and continued on. The game never seemed to end until the troublemakers suddenly let go of it causing SeeU to fall on the ground with the bucket in her hands and watch the water flying.

We all watched in horror as the dirty water soared through the sky in full speed.

We watched the unpurified water soar through the air until it finally decided to land a few feet away.

I turned around and saw most of the wet dirt land safely on the ground, but not all. Some of it decided to land somewhere else. Out of all other people it could've chosen, it chose to splatter all over Little Yuuma.

The pink-haired boy was a standing a few feet away from us, continuously blinking so the dirt wouldn't get in his eyes. SeeU and I stood frozen with our mouth gaped open watching water drip down from his wet hair. All pair of eyes was targeted on him, but the little boy was looking directly at the girl on the ground, holding the bucket in her hand.

My heart broke while I watched my younger self go through this embarrassing moment. It was reckless of me to let this incident happen.

Silence filled the air for what it felt like an hour before it was sliced by a piercing laugh. We all turned to look and saw Luna on the floor laughing uncontrollably. "He smells like poo!" she shouted, pointing at the dirty boy. Her choice of words caused Lily to laugh along, but not SeeU.

SeeU watched him in terror as the shivering boy met her gaze and looked back. I watched him look at her, and I finally realized Little Yuuma was staring at the bucket in her hands. SeeU seemed to notice it too because she let the object drop and began speaking whatever word that popped into her mind first. The blonde-haired girl was speaking nonsense. She spoke in broken Japanese and slipped in some Korean here and there making it impossible for anyone to make note of what she was saying.

I feel shame crawling through my skin as I suddenly remember this situation. My heart seemed to stop a beat after I realized what was going to happen next. But before I could do anything, the craven boy turned and ran away from us. SeeU immediately chased after him and I soon began to follow. This isn't supposed to happen. I worked so hard to change the future. It can't end like this.

We ended up going off-campus and into the dangerous streets. I ran for what it seemed like hours. My heart rate increased as I accelerated my pace, wishing everything in my heart that this madness would stop. Even though SeeU is smaller than me in size, she's athletic compared to me. She has a high stamina and can outrun me even though I'm about ten years older and have much longer legs than her.

I know all the people we passed, the buildings, and even the signs. I remember exactly where the accident will occur. We run until we're a block away from where the big finale takes place, and I shout for the little girl to stop. SeeU doesn't listen so I shout the same name over and over until she finally listens to me and stops as she watches the boy run off. I stopped and breathed in cold air when I finally caught up to her.

She turned around unhappily. "What?" she almost snarled.

"Stop," I panted, resting my hands on my knees to support myself. "Don't go any farther."

"But-"

"Just listen to me!" I shouted, silently hoping it didn't come out as sharp as I thought it did. "Don't worry about him. He'll… I'll be safe for now."

SeeU didn't believe me. I know she didn't because she raised her eyebrow and said, "Yuuma, what's going on?"

"Go back to school." I silently prayed SeeU would listen to me. "I'll bring him back."

"No one can _see_ you!" she shouted. "You can't _touch_ anyone!"

"Just listen to me!" I snapped. "Go back. You shouldn't be here."

"But I-"

"Go!"

"Yuuma," she said my name. She said it so softly that I had to listen carefully to hear it. I was so tired that I didn't have the energy to stop her. All I could do was stare at her bright blue eyes and silently wish she listened to me.

"Listen, SeeU, be a good girl and-"

"Yuuma," she said again, sternly. "Am I…"

"Please…"

"Am I… going to die?" she asked quietly.

I couldn't reply. I had no strength left to deny the truth and tell her a lie.

"Smile," she suddenly ordered.

I can't. I can't smile. I'm racked with guilt.

I watched the tip of her lips curl upwards and I try to do the same, but it doesn't work. I don't have the heart to give her a wistful smile.

"SeeU, I'll go get him and everything will be-"

"Smile!" she ordered.

SeeU stood stall, her eyes still fixed on me. I stared back so intently that sometimes the rest of the world seemed to vanish, leaving only the two of us.

"Don't go." I whispered.

"I'll be back and-"

"You'll die!" I shouted. "This… this isn't supposed to happen. It's not… it's… it's all supposed to be a stupid dream."

"Yuuma-"

"Why am _I_ here? Why did I have to meet you and have things end like this? _Why?"_

"Yuuma-"

"It's all because of _you." _I gritted my teeth. "If I never met you, then… then I… I wouldn't…"

"I won't die," SeeU declared. Her words startled me. All I could do was look up at her in shock at how confident she sounded. Doesn't she know this isn't a game? She's going to die. I wanted to slap her. I wanted to _hurt_ her. I wanted to somehow inflict pain on her so she'll know what she's going to go through.

"You-"

"I promised you, didn't I?" SeeU looked at me with such an intense expression that I couldn't stop her. She looks fierce on the outside, but there's something about her that didn't make me trust her. I hate how she's trying to act like an adult. We're lying to each other. We both know what's going to happen and we're lying to hide the truth.

"SeeU…"

"I promised you a brighter future."

"But-"

"No buts! Nanny told me it's bad to break a promise. If you die here, I'll have to break my promise and I won't let that happen."

It pained me.

It pained me how my hands were transparent and unable to grasp her arm. SeeU gave me a sardonic smile one last time before jogging to catch up, calling my name.

It's pathetic.

Why does this whole thing need to even repeat itself? Why did I act like such a weakling in the past? Why does SeeU have to act like a hero and repeat the same thing? Why? Why does she make me witness the same horror twice?

I follow the little girl for a moment and find my younger self resting right across the street still catching his breath. The pink-haired boy sees SeeU running to catch him and he's on the run again. I watch my younger self dashing across the street faster than ever after hearing her voice call his name. Little Yuuma runs and runs, blind to everything around him as SeeU follows his every step and eventually takes the blow.

I watch her in slow motion when she soars through the sky before landing hard on the ground. Blood mingles with the heated cement and bystanders stop whatever they're doing to watch the big finale. Someone behind me screams from the sight of blood and the scream is soon followed by whispers and murmurings. There's a reverent silence and all I could do was hopelessly look at the pale body in front of me. I couldn't touch her and breathe life into her. I'm neither a God nor a hero. I'm merely a ghost who fails at life. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

I look up and see myself on the other side of the street looking at SeeU. I can see myself observing what happened just now and what pained me the most the fact that I was… smiling. It made me cringe.

I was cruel.

I continued to watch until a sharp pain attacked my spine and I slowly started to lose my senses. I lost my gravity and found myself looking at the blue sky. One second I'm standing, and the next I'm on the floor. The vision slowly starts to erode until there's nothing but darkness.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was facing the light.

The brightness of the bulb made me blink continuously until I turned my head sideways in defeat.

"Yuuma?" says a voice. The voice doesn't belong to SeeU. I know this because it doesn't sound childish and feminine.

"He's awake!" says another voice; and this time it sounds like a female. But the pitch of her voice doesn't sound like SeeU's.

When I turn my head the other way, the first thing I see is a strand of teal hair covering my vision, but later it moves away and I find myself looking at a teal-haired girl.

"He's awake," she spoke in a warm tone. "Len, can you go get the nurse?"

I hear a muffled reply and another figure comes into my vision. A blonde-haired boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood next to the girl, looking directly at me. I know them. They're Len and Miku. And they're not little anymore. They all… grew.

"Can _you_ go find the nurse?" Len questioned, still looking at me. "I have to tell him something."

I watched the teal-haired girl look at him for a while before reaching to grab his hand and give it a little squeeze. She did nothing for a while before standing up and leaving the room with the door shut behind her.

"SeeU…" I managed to whisper. I didn't care how my voice sounded. I know it sounds terrible, but I want answers.

"Are you feeling alright?" Len asked. "Do you know who I am?"

"Len," I attempted to say, but it came out in a cough. "Len," I tried again; and this time, I said it perfectly.

His smooth eyes brightened in delight as he smiled. "Yuuma, you have no idea how much Miku was worried about you."

"…Miku?" I said slowly, unsure if I heard this correctly. I was always a nonentity; a person who no one pays attention to. It surprised me to hear that people are worried about my health. Before I could say anything else, the door opens and I hear voices. A teal-haired girl leads a nurse to where I am, and the nurse immediately starts her job. The blue-haired nurse inspects me thoroughly, often asking me questions if I'm okay and if I feel any pain. While she does that, I can't help but keep looking at her face.

"It looks like nothing's wrong," said the nurse, glancing at me one last time before turning to face Miku. "He's fine."

I saw Miku sigh in relief and managed to peek at Len holding her hand with a soft smile.

"I told you not to worry so much," he said.

"You have scars here and there but it's not bad enough to get stitches," said the nurse. "I just stopped the bleeding so just take care of that and you'll be fine."

"Have…" I started, but stopped. The nurse turned to look at me again and I can't help but blush wondering how I should finish my sentence.

"Yes?" she urged, looking at me with her crystal blue eyes.

"Is… is your name Ring by any chance?" I said, and I immediately regretted saying that out loud. The young nurse seemed startled for a second before giving me a nod.

"Yes," she answered slowly. "My name is Ring."

She aged. Ring looks older than the last time I saw her, but I'm saying this in a good way. She bloomed into a beautiful nurse. I watched her turn to walk away and I can't help but wonder if she knows me or not. I feel like I'm in a dream.

"Did you tell him what you wanted to say?" Miku asked. I turned to face the duet as Len shook his head. The tealette frowned when she saw the boy frown as well.

"Tell me what?" I managed to say, looking at them curiously. "What time is it? Why aren't you two at school?"

"We ditched," Len answered, rolling his eyes. "When we heard you got into an accident, Miku wanted to come but she didn't want to come alone."

"And it's a good thing you came," huffed Miku, glaring at blonde-haired boy. "After all, you promised SeeU."

"…Promise?" I choked. "What promise?"

I watched Len fiddle around with his fingers before sighing and said, "Look, do you remember that day when Sakine-sensei made us write letters to someone in primary school? I'm a ninety-nine point nine percent sure you don't since it was long ago, but SeeU wrote a letter to me and… she…"

"She made him promise to watch over you whenever you're in trouble." Miku finished for him. "Len showed me the letter she wrote and we decided to do it because… well… without you, we…"

"We wouldn't be together," Len finished. And to prove it, he bravely reached over to hold Miku's hand firmly. "SeeU told me I wouldn't be with Miku if it wasn't for you, so she forced me to promised her I would watch over you in return."

"And we believe her," said Miku, giggling at the memory. "We were both so shy back then- and we still are. Who knows what could've happened to us if she didn't tell him!"

"…What happened to Tei?" I asked.

Len shrugged. "The last time I saw her was before she graduated. I remember she always used to bother me before she started hanging out with Taito."

"How long was I out?" I breathed, remembering the letter incident.

"Huh?"

"How long have I been knocked out?" I said again, slowly.

"Just a few hours," Miku replied, looking at me funny. "Why?"

All I did is stare at them for the longest time possible. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I shut it and opened it again, but the results were the same. It felt weird. Everything felt weird to me. I felt like I shouldn't _be_ here. I felt like I should be… _there._

"You had us worry," said Miku, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "Yuuma, I'm never going to let you drive again as long as I live!"

I'm so confused. I watched Miku crying as Len comforted her, trying to make her stop. I watched the wet tears sliding down her cheeks one by one before blacking out again.

* * *

A few days passed before the hospital finally approved my release. And in about a week I finally started to attend school again.

I'm not sure if my adventure to the past was real or a fluke. I'm not the type who remembers my dreams, but this one seemed to be special. It never left my mind.

When I opened the door to my classroom, I began to think it was all a dream when I saw girls surrounding the teacher like flies while the boys used their phones to entertain themselves. Everything seemed normal but I began to have second thoughts when Len and Miku were the only ones who greeted me. I began to walk to my desk like nothing ever happened. It felt perennial.

It wasn't until during class when Kiyoteru called my name to come get something from him that I noticed something scintillating from him. There's a gold band on his ring finger. During lunch, I waited for Tei to slam open the door and come running toward Len, but she never came. Instead, Miku walked over to Len, who was still sitting in front of me, and shared their lunch. I stood up and left the class to find Taito, but I couldn't find him. I realized things really did change when I stopped by my old school after school and noticed little kids playing outside on the playground and a brunette watching over them. It wasn't hard to spot the same exact ring as Kiyoteru on her slim finger.

It took me a few weeks to get used to the change until one day Hiyama-sensei announced a new transfer student. The males buzzed in excitement when a female entered the class and approached the teacher. I never really cared if there was a new student but this girl made me cock my head over her direction. Her long blonde hair danced behind her as she stood next to the teacher. Her skin was flawless and it glowed like the last time I saw her. All pair of eyes was attached to her figure; especially her curves, but I noticed hers was looking directly at me.

"Hello," she said. "My name is SeeU."

The new girl began introducing herself and when she finished, Kiyoteru told her to pick any seat she wanted. People without a partner silently hoped the transfer student would pick them, but she didn't go anywhere near their direction. She didn't hesitate to come next to me.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, planting her hands on the empty desk beside mine.

"No," I deadpanned.

I expected her to sit and ignore me, but she didn't. Instead she continued to stare at me with her sparkling blue eyes; eyes that shined like a star.

"Have me met before?" she asked.

"Did we?"

"Did I see you somewhere before?"

"About ten years ago?" I replied.

"No," she said slowly, tilting her head slightly to the side, "sooner."

"I don't know," I answered, looking at her. "Have we?"

She continued to look into my eyes before shaking her head with a sigh and say, "I'm sorry. It must've been a silly dream I had."

"…Are you talking about the one with a bar?"

Hearing my question made her let out a happy squeal and she gave me a small smile. "There was a car accident, right?" she said excitedly.

"I remember a broken trophy."

"There was a scene where a playground took place," she said amusingly, ignoring everyone in the class staring at us like we were crazy. "Do you remember it?"

"…Does it involve pink underwear?" I inquired.

SeeU smiled, and I couldn't help but smile along.

"Welcome back."

* * *

**I'm not sure if you noticed the slight TaitoxTei, but it was there. The idea of Tei paired up with Taito was decided after reading I My Me Mine's one-shot: _Searching For Something That Was Never There. _I My Me Mine is a wonderful author and you should check out her stories. I definately recomend you read some. :)**

**I don't own anything except for the story. SeeU is from SBS Artech and VY2 is from Bplats Inc.**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. :)**


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